[Left] [Top Right ] [Bottom Right] "But I love Burlington Coat Factory. You go in there with $645, you are literally a king." -Steve Carell as Michael Scott (The Office)
In this day and age, we as a civilization are driven almost solely by the market. What “They” (the media) tell us is the style, we rush out and get because we all want to be accepted and we all want to fit in. These sudden impulses to buy the next new thing often come at a much greater price than one sees on the price tag. The purchase effects our environment and even other lives. The lives I am talking about refer to my specific case study, animal’s lives for the production of fur coats.
Animal’s lives are being ended for the exploitation of their fur to feed our mainstream media “needs.” To make this situation even worse, and completely unsustainable, the bodies of many of these animals go completely discarded. This is usually the case with smaller animals who “don’t have much to offer,” other than their lives and their fur of course. The meat and bone of animals like minks, chinchillas, and other smaller animals are thrown out after being skinned. **ADVOCACY FOR ANIMALS** Many of the most popular animals for fur coats such as minks, are often bred on farms, much in the way cattle are for the harvesting of their meat. Here the animals are treated like slaves and tortured until killed for their fur and their fur only. I’m not condoning the practice of farming animals for their fur at all, but it would make it much better and much more sustainable if the owners and drivers of this practice would use the rest of the animal for something, instead of just throwing its remains out. If one cannot use the meat, then possibly they could use the bones. This aspect, other than the fact that this practice when it comes down to it just isn’t necessary, I feel is what gets people really up in arms. It is a waist of a life and of that life’s resources.
A lot of the larger and more rare species are hunted right out of the wild and often done by poachers illegally. This is creating a large strain on the world’s reserve of some of these species. Animals like the white rhinoceros, leopard, gazelle, giant panda, as well as birds like the bald eagle and the bird of paradise are in danger of becoming extinct if we cannot stop or at least better regulate when and how these animals can be taken. The problem there is that this practice is very successful. It is such a lucrative business that officials have a hard time placing restrictions on farmers and “hunters.” A mink coat can cost anywhere from $1500 to $9000. “The European Union currently has some regulations regarding the protection of animals that are raised and killed for their fur however there is no ban on the practice.” It is amazing what money can do to shut even the most powerful of officials up. It, like many other realms of our society, has become yet another system corrupt by the love of money.**ENDANGERED ANIMALS** Worldwide we see many activist groups like PEDA, who come together and put on demonstrations against the support of this type of consumer practice. Some are more radical than others as you can see at the top of this page, but all are saying the same thing. In order to bring down or at least minimize what has become this corporate giant we as a society must come together and speak out about not only the cruelty which these animals are facing, but also demand reform to make what is left of the business a much more sustainable practice. This type of thing can start at the smallest levels. By choosing not to purchase just ONE fur coat you could be saving the lives of 65 minks, 24 foxes, 5 wolves, or even 200 chinchillas! “According to the Spanish animal-rights organization****Igualdad Animal****, four hundred thousand minks are killed and turned into fur coats every year.” If our society stops purchasing the furs of these animals the market depletes. If the market depletes there is no need for farms and illegal poaching of animals for their furs, which allows the animals lives to not be wasted for fur. We have many other ways of staying warm in the winter. We need to keep that in mind as well as think of better and more sustainable ways of flaunting our wealth.
[Left] [Top Right ] [Bottom Right]
"But I love Burlington Coat Factory. You go in there with $645, you are literally a king."
-Steve Carell as Michael Scott (The Office)
In this day and age, we as a civilization are driven almost solely by the market. What “They” (the media) tell us is the style, we rush out and get because we all want to be accepted and we all want to fit in. These sudden impulses to buy the next new thing often come at a much greater price than one sees on the price tag. The purchase effects our environment and even other lives. The lives I am talking about refer to my specific case study, animal’s lives for the production of fur coats.
Animal’s lives are being ended for the exploitation of their fur to feed our mainstream media “needs.” To make this situation even worse, and completely unsustainable, the bodies of many of these animals go completely discarded. This is usually the case with smaller animals who “don’t have much to offer,” other than their lives and their fur of course. The meat and bone of animals like minks, chinchillas, and other smaller animals are thrown out after being skinned.
**ADVOCACY FOR ANIMALS**
Many of the most popular animals for fur coats such as minks, are often bred on farms, much in the way cattle are for the harvesting of their meat. Here the animals are treated like slaves and tortured until killed for their fur and their fur only. I’m not condoning the practice of farming animals for their fur at all, but it would make it much better and much more sustainable if the owners and drivers of this practice would use the rest of the animal for something, instead of just throwing its remains out. If one cannot use the meat, then possibly they could use the bones. This aspect, other than the fact that this practice when it comes down to it just isn’t necessary, I feel is what gets people really up in arms. It is a waist of a life and of that life’s resources.
A lot of the larger and more rare species are hunted right out of the wild and often done by poachers illegally. This is creating a large strain on the world’s reserve of some of these species. Animals like the white rhinoceros, leopard, gazelle, giant panda, as well as birds like the bald eagle and the bird of paradise are in danger of becoming extinct if we cannot stop or at least better regulate when and how these animals can be taken. The problem there is that this practice is very successful. It is such a lucrative business that officials have a hard time placing restrictions on farmers and “hunters.” A mink coat can cost anywhere from $1500 to $9000. “The European Union currently has some regulations regarding the protection of animals that are raised and killed for their fur however there is no ban on the practice.” It is amazing what money can do to shut even the most powerful of officials up. It, like many other realms of our society, has become yet another system corrupt by the love of money.**ENDANGERED ANIMALS**
Worldwide we see many activist groups like PEDA, who come together and put on demonstrations against the support of this type of consumer practice. Some are more radical than others as you can see at the top of this page, but all are saying the same thing. In order to bring down or at least minimize what has become this corporate giant we as a society must come together and speak out about not only the cruelty which these animals are facing, but also demand reform to make what is left of the business a much more sustainable practice. This type of thing can start at the smallest levels. By choosing not to purchase just ONE fur coat you could be saving the lives of 65 minks, 24 foxes, 5 wolves, or even 200 chinchillas! “According to the Spanish animal-rights organization ****Igualdad Animal**** , four hundred thousand minks are killed and turned into fur coats every year.” If our society stops purchasing the furs of these animals the market depletes. If the market depletes there is no need for farms and illegal poaching of animals for their furs, which allows the animals lives to not be wasted for fur. We have many other ways of staying warm in the winter. We need to keep that in mind as well as think of better and more sustainable ways of flaunting our wealth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
IMAGES
"Does the Winter Mean Fur Coats." Advocacy for Animals: (2009). Web. 28 March 2010. **http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2009/11/does-the-winter-mean-fur-coats/**
“PETA Protests Fur at Washington Burberry Store.” UPI.com: (2007). Web. 28 March 2010. **http://www.upi.com/enl-win/953a02fe79d5d1097f6e61a6ba6d5efd/**
“Bleeding Naked People Protest Fur in Buenos Aires.” Green Daily: (2008). Web. 28 March 2010. **http://www.greendaily.com/2008/06/26/bleeding-naked-people-protest-fur-in-buenos-aires/**
INFORMATION
"Does the Winter Mean Fur Coats." Advocacy for Animals: (2009). Web. 28 March 2010. **http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2009/11/does-the-winter-mean-fur-coats/**
"Endangered Animals." Web. 28 March 2010. **http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/e-animals.htm**
"Naked Animal Rights Activists Protest in Barcelona." Dalje.com: (2010). Web. 28 March 2010. **http://dalje.com/en-world/naked-animal-rights-activists-protest-in-barcelona/118259**
"Ingualdad Animal." Web. 28 March 2010. http://www.igualdadanimal.org/noticias/se-empiezan-conocer-las-primeras-consecuencias-para-la-industria-peletera-de-la-liberacion-